‘Anora’ Gets Nice Bump In Post-Oscar Expansion, Hits No. 7 After 21 Weeks – Specialty Box Office

Sean Baker’s Anora from Neon — which swept the Academy Awards for Best Director, Picture, Original Screenplay, Lead Actress and Editing – added 800+ screens to celebrate after the ceremony last Sunday and brought in in an estimated $1.86 million for the three-day weekend. The cume after 21 weeks in theaters now stands at $18.45 million.

Anora stands at no. 7 this week, making for an impressive five indies in the top 10 this week

Neon’s The Monkey takes the fourth spot in week 3 with a cume of $31 million. And two other indies round out the top ten with Rule Breakers from Angel Studios seeing $1.59 million on 2,044 screens, at no. 9, and In The Lost Lands from Vertical, based on an a short story by George R.R. Martin, is estimating $1.04 million at 1,370 locations and a no. 10 spot.

The distributor has been on a push to boost its theatrical slate over the past year and has places in the top 10 for the first time ever with this release. Played well in NY & LA but also in diverse markets in the South and West. 

Focus held well at no. 3 with The Last Breath at an  $14.7-million week 3 cume on 3,090 screens.

Other new openings: IFC Films’ The Rule of Jenny Pen debuted at $263k in 878 theatres. The R-rated nursing home horror film stars Geoffrey Rush and John Lithgow,

Eephus from Music Box Pictures debuted at $21.1k on two screens — IFC Center and Film at Lincoln Center — with rave reviews. This all-American baseball comedy debuted last year at Cannes and had its stateside premiere at NYFF.

A24’s On Becoming A Guinea Fowl by filmmaker Rungano Nyoni, which also premiered at Cannes, had a $13.4k debut at four theaters. A group of cousins bring to light the buried secrets of their middle-class Zambian family.

Utopia’s Circle Collective opened The Visitor from cult Canadian artist Bruce LaBruce in NYC and Toronto to $11.4k  across just four showtimes on three screens . Known as the ‘King of Kink’, LaBruce’s “brilliantly depraved” new film scared away many traditional festivals and theater, but is finding an audience excited to see an independent, radical piece of art on screen with Q&A’s, DJ sets, art installations and more. Expands to one of Los Angeles’s staple midnight theaters, Landmark’s NuArt next weekend featuring LaBruce in attendance for two nights ahead of the film touring select arthouse theaters in the US and Canada through March and April